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Best Free Audio-Video Format Conversion Program
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Introduction
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There are many different audio and video formats out there, and most devices (such as the iPod) and programs (such as Windows Media Player) are only compatible with a few specific formats. An AVI or WMV movie will not play on an iPod, for example, without being converted into an MP4 file first. There are quite a few programs that will do this for free, with more popping up all the time. They tend to fall into a few general categories:
While some are better than others overall, which one is best for you will depend on what sort of program you need. Note: If you want to rip video directly from a DVD, click here to view the Best Free DVD Ripper page.. |
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Discussion
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Device-Specific PicksPazera Video Converters Suite
Also recommended:
General Converter Picks
What I do find frustrating, however, is that the developer has now added OpenCandy to their installer. For more information about this bundled software, I recommend you read this article. Please see the last paragraph of this review for information on how you can opt out of this. Now, back to the awesome stuff. With Freemake, you can convert most any format of video or audio with this handy piece of freeware, along with DVD's, photos, and even web embedded media from sites like YouTube, Google, and Vimeo. There are lots of presets and quite a few options, giving the software best-in-class capabilities. The visual cues are easy to follow, pretty much guiding you from start to finish on any conversion task and providing a more user-friendly experience than most other software. This software can make use of DXVA and CUDA (two methods of hardware accelerated encoding) to boost speeds. I was only able to use DXVA on my test computer, so you may get faster encodes with your machine. On my laptop, I had an NVidia card, and Freemake actually displayed a message recommending that I update my video card drivers to make use of CUDA acceleration. Freemake took 39 minutes to produce its output using an Auto Bitrate setting, with a two-pass encode. It took under 15 minutes to do a one-pass encode. Handbrake took 33 minutes using a Constant Quality RF:20 setting. The quality of all three test encodes was excellent, with no apparent difference from the original. You won't find advanced encoding settings anywhere in this interface, so if you're looking to fine-tune your output, I recommend moving on to something like Handbrake, Format Factory, or FFCoder. I would have loved to give this software 10/10 stars, however there was one negative aspect to Freemake Video Converter: the bundled Freemake Toolbar and OpenCandy softwares. The toolbar is set to install by default unless you choose otherwise on the first page of the install wizard. To their credit, the Privacy Policies and/or EULA's are easily available for all bundled software. OpenCandy, on the other hand, does not have a checkbox to toggle its install. Instead, you'll have to roll up your sleeves and install from the command-line if you want to opt out of it. Here's how: Hit Start, then 'Run' the install file with the /nocandy switch. It will still show you the EULA for it, however there will be an option at the very end of the install to 'not install' the software OpenCandy recommends for you. Even without the /nocandy switch, you can still uncheck the box, but for some reason the switch will trade in the check-box for 2 separate radio button choices (Yes or No). It's a lot to worry about and go through, but this software really is top-notch in most other ways. Although their website defaults to an "online installer", they do host offline installers, available here.
NOTE: When installing Format Factory, watch out for the bundled toolbar. It is installed by default if you don't uncheck the box on the first screen of the installer package. A portable version of this software is also available at LiberKey, which is a superb portable application manager.
Also recommended:
Custom-Oriented PicksIf you need to make complex, custom jobs, FFCoder is the standout choice for its coherence. Like most programs in this review, it has an excellent device preset list, the ability to convert multiple files at once, and a simple, sleek interface. Where FFCoder stands out is its support of highly advanced configuration for each of the dozens of video formats and codecs, down to lighting and rendering settings. Despite a few dependencies (listed below) and a steep learning curve for any tweaks past the presets, this is the best converter for almost any power user, device owner or not. One of my favorite FFCoder features is the Directory Watch. You can setup FFCoder so that it monitors a folder for files matching a filename pattern, which will be automatically converted using the selected settings. It can be a bit confusing to set up, however I found I got the best results when setting the wildcard filename pattern to something other than *.* (such as *.avi). There were two things I didn't like about FFCoder. The first is that is always creates Start Menu entries in the Administrator account, regardless of which non-admin account is being used to install it. This is fairly minor though, contrasted with all the powerful features. The second drawback is that it seems to be less stable on 64-bit Windows systems every now and again. I ran into .DLL errors and missing presets, which strangely were intermittent problems. I've spoken with the author and it looks like many of these bugs will be worked out in the next release. Also recommended:
Audio-Only PicksPazera Free Audio Extractor is the audio-only program in the above-mentioned Pazera Video Converters Suite. It supports both video and audio input and output to many formats, and is slightly simpler than some of its sibling programs. Otherwise, it is perfectly identical.
Online Conversion WebsitesVideo to Mp3 I was asked to checkout a web site converter for Youtube and Dailymotion videos. This site is set up to convert video to four set formats Mp3(128 kbt/s & 256 kbit/s ), flv, mp4 and 3gp. This is a wonderful idea, but does it work lets see.... I started the test with an Mp3 convert and WOW finished in a matter of seconds and my result was ready to download. Ok lets check out some of these other bad boy options. Next I selected the Mp4 option and clicked the convert button and nothing. EMMM I thought well it is a video conversion so it will take more time. I waited until the next day nothing. After a full 24 hours still nothing. I reloaded the page and recopied the URL started a new convert. After 6 hours nothing and then my browser crashed ooops. I started a third again after 24 hours nothing. I am not saying it wont work for you as different configurations of bandwidth, browsers etc may be different but don't get your hopes up. Next up the flv now I was thinking that a lot of Youtube video is in format flv so this should be quick but again after 3 days and 3 tests I had 0 results. At least this time my browser did not crash lol. So without much Enthusiasm I tried the 3gp option and hey what you know it worked first time and quite quickly about 30 minutes. Having said all this if anyone wants a Youtube video in basic no frills mp3 audio from a Youtube video then this is a viable option and simple to use just copy and paste a Youtube URL into box, choice format and click convert and when it is ready download finished product, easy.
Zamzar is an excellent website when you're on the run. It doesn't allow you to customize the encoding settings, however it makes up for that somewhat with its portability and flexibility. If you have a browser with internet access, you have Zamzar. If you have any file, you can convert it to any other type of file in the same class. For example, you can convert video files, audio files, photos (ex: .JPG to .PNG), archives (ex: .RAR to .ZIP), documents (ex: .PDF to .DOC), and eBooks (ex: .LIT to .EPUB). You can even paste a URL (ex: YouTube) and it'll download the embedded video for you and convert it. Once the conversion is done, they email you a link to download the finished product. This email-based file retrieval can be either a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. It's more fuss than there really needs to be in the process, however it gives you the flexibility of converting a Youtube video from a computer where you can't download the content, such as when at work behind a proxy or at a public library. When you get home, you can then download the finished conversion immediately using the email link. I first used Zamzar over a year ago, and to this day I have never received unsolicited email from them. There is a 100MB file limit for free use, but you can upgrade that to 200MB and get about 5GB of online storage if you want to pay their fairly steep monthly prices. For most users, the free services are more than adequate.
Tested and not recommended:
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is really a package of several separate device converters with a common launcher. Each converter is powerful, with several presets for device, custom tweaking/profiles, multiple-file support, all in a simple text-based interface. If you don't mind the launcher, you could effectively use it as a hybrid converter.
To Be Reviewed:
- Avanti
- DVDVideoSoft (re-review)
- Miksoft Mobile Media Converter
- Mediacoder
- Motion Man by Blink Solution
- MeGUI
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Related Products and Links
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You might want to check out these articles too: |
Portable version available here.
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Editor
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This software category is maintained by volunteer editor tpg. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here. |
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Tags
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| free audio converter, free video converter, best audio video converter, top audio video conversion program, free av converter, free av conversion. |
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Thanks for the tip about Xmedia Recode. I'll take a personal look at this one, and mention that about the .WTV support...
I hadn't noticed that Freemake doesn't crop well, as I have not had to crop a video recently. I'll see if I get the same problems.
Regarding the 'nag screen' in Freemake, well, I agree that it's annoying to have software constantly displaying advertisements. In my books, this particular case of advertising doesn't detract from the usability, so it's more of an 'opportune advertisement window' than a true 'nag screen' which would by my definition, cause a delay in the user's workflow.
I'll take a look at Vidcoder as well, but I find Handbrake to be quite simple in its current build so I'm not sure we need to simplify it more, since we have so many non-customizable software options at our disposal already. If it simplifies without sacrificing flexibility, then it would definitely be worth mentioning on the page, though.
Thanks
I downloaded the free maker video converter. Unfortunately when i tried to convert files it crashed every time I tried to convert. Any ideas on how to resolve this problem. Or should I try one of your other great finds.
eric
I agree that the Freemake nag screen doesn't hinder functionality, but it greatly hinders MY functionality.It's outrageous that they would nag you to like them and not let you dismiss it once and for all, so I use a version that predates their nagging. It also has the advantage of being able to scroll the conversion choices individually.
I don't consider Handbrake to be all that simple, but Vidcorder gives it a more ordered feel. I believe that if you try it, you won't go back to Handbrake standalone, but maybe it's just me.
About XMedia Recode, there is no faster converter if you are simply going from one format to another and keeping all other settings intact, just set the video and audio tabs to "copy." It's when you add effects or change video bitrates that it slows to "normal." Since I need to use several freeware programs to get from DVD or .WTV to an edited 1500 MP4, XMedia Recode does the initial conversion faster than anything. And since it also does just audio conversions very fast, it's become my program of choice.
But there's a big caveat... I always keeps five versions in reserve because, amazingly, each new update seems to have bugs that affect previously functioning features. For example, in 3096, I couldn't isolate a segment from a DVD track, it would only copy the entire track, despite 3094 being able to isolate the segment just fine.
Oh, and XMedia will sometimes not present all the DVD tracks for ripping, just what it considers the main one.
One other problem with XMedia Recode, as with most converters, is that you can't edit a segment precisely - or even close to precisely. What makes this especially annoying with XMedia is that you can crop precisely which slows the conversion process to what's normal for other converters, and then you still need to use another program for a final edit, and still another for cropping, so my regimen is XMedia Recode (really fast converting - Freemake (fast, precise editing) - Vidcoder-Handbrake (bitrate reduction and cropping_.
This is a very common problem. If you download a lot of YouTube, you'll see this more often than not.
iWisoft Free Video Converter allows you to correct this.
After you add the file, right click the file, select Advanced.
You'll see the option to offset the audio. Usually 500ms will be about right.
Just a quick note on the 'Freemake video converter'. It appears to need .NET to work. As this fact is included in the Format Factory info', perhaps also for the Freemake?
Great tip, but now I'm sort of wondering...
What do you think about the need to mention this requirement?
.NET framework.. is this really a negative point?
Some do consider it a negative point. Can be understood, because of the heavy disk size these .NET frameworks take up. So, some do not like this.
However, some think that installing .NET frameworks makes their system slow, which is a myth.
I've added the note about Freemake requiring .NET, as some users may appreciate it.
Great :).
Anyways, if a program has any such requirement of anything extra installed for it to function properly, then it should be mentioned in the review. This holds true for across the site.
I just used Format Factory to convert an AVI into a MOV. Unfortately, it turned the 29.97 fps un-interlaced AVI and turned it into a 25 fps .mov, with interlacing.
Couldn't find any settings to adjust that, but I might just be missing them.
Try this:
After clicking on "All to MOV", you should see a window pop up where you can drag'n'drop the source files into the queue.
From here, click OUTPUT SETTINGS.
Read through the list of settings in the resulting dialog box. You should see FPS, which will be defaulted to 24. You can choose 29.97 from the drop-down-menu. The default value here will depend on what encoding profile you have selected.
To output a non-interlaced video, try clicking on ADVANCED, and then choosing YES for the DEINTERLACE toggle.
Hope this helps!
Please let us know how you made out
Freemake Video Converter now comes bundled with Open Candy. This will make your computer grow fat and rot its teeth! I guess I will try the comand-line start with the /nocandy switch.
The /nocandy switch works fine. The Open Candy "I agree" statement still appears on the install window, but I saw and found no trace of it on my system after the installation. I did it this way:
Click on start, run, then browse to navigate to the install file. Select the file and click open and it appears in the run command window. Click on the file name in the run window and add (space)/nocandy at the end, after the quote mark like this:
"C:\My Downloads\FreemakeVideoConverter_3.0.2.12.exe" /nocandy Click run and install normally, being sure to deselect the tool bar and search location change options.
Thanks for finding this. It appears that they have changed their installer file, without updating the actual software version. I can confirm that it now includes OpenCandy, which in my opinion is a negative point against the developer. It's a shame that this software is so functional.
I'm going to update the review now, to reflect this new knowledge and in accordance with the site's OpenCandy policy.
Well, that seemed to do the trick. Awesome! Thanks!
What really surprises me about Format Factory, was its ability to compress a 10,729,812 KB .AVI into a 315,966 KB with minimal loss in image quality. It's really quite astonishing.
That's great news, I'm glad it met your purpose. Thanks for letting us know!
Another encoder from SourceForge. Multi-threaded video converter.
TEncoder Video Converter : http://sourceforge.net/projects/tencoder/
Thanks!
I just checked it out. It's a front-end for 'ffmpeg' and 'mencoder', but seems to have a couple of cool features.
In my first couple of test encodes, I noticed that the output audio was actually more in-sync than the original .mkv source... Didn't expect that.
Speaking of audio-sync, this program has an easy-to-use audio-sync adjustment, and what is cool is that you can independently adjust subtitle timing as well, all in real-time with UP/DOWN buttons as you watch the video play. It's the most intuitive audio-sync adjustment I've seen yet on a converter.
You can also set start and end times for your encode, although you can not be more precise than 1-second increments.
Downfalls I noticed: When choosing a pre-set profile, most of them default to a 4/3 aspect ratio, even if they are designed for wide-screen devices (like iPod Touch). That profile also defaults to 25 FPS. So I'd say the profiles need a bit of tweaking, but I'm sure the author will get to that as it's a relatively new product.
Profiles can easily be edited and saved with your own custom values.
I'll do a full review of this software for sure, and it'll be added to the Custom-Oriented section.
Great find.
As always, thanks for your thoughts on the software.. quite helpful :). Will look forward to the full review :).
Hey DrBaker,
Thanks for making this article more up-to-date and comprehensive than ever. You're giving it much better attention than I ever did, and certainly could do now.
It's amazing what you can reach when you stand on someone's shoulders :)
Don't bother with SUPER as the program TIMEBOMBS! I've been using v2011.build.48 (April 23, 2011) for a while now, and as of July 29, 2012, when I go to run it, it opens my browser to this page - http://www.erightsoft.com/^P/SuperXpired.html - which displays the message:
~~~~~~~~~~
This is an OBSOLETE version of SUPER ©
It might induce encoding errors or crash at anytime.
Get your 100% Free new version of SUPER ©
Discover a whole new range of Output Containers RM, GXF, WTV, Android, Blackberry, Xbox and a bunch of new codecs: DTS, Cook, Speex...
Trusted Free Encoder/Player since 2005
Download SUPER © v2012.build.52 (July 7, 2012)
Leave a message or ask for support we will get back to you for sure
~~~~~~~~~~
There's nothing obsolete about the program. It's a converter, and as long as it always does the conversion job the users requires, it'll never be obsolete. This is the author's way of forcing the user to get the latest version. I won't stand for it. SUPER was never the greatest to begin with, but it always got the job done. I will not be forced to upgrade when I don't want to. The program author has now gotten me to look for a better freeware video and audio conversion program. So long, SUPER.
I'm running into another problem with Format Factory.
I've downloaded and converted a file from YouTube into an .AVI.
I played it an it plays fine all the way to the end.
But when I convert it to a .mov, it cuts off the last 5 seconds or so of audio.
I tried to go into Option and make the end time 15 seconds later than the length of the video, but it didn't work.
That's a strange issue... If I was having a similar problem, I'd likely want to test it out on several different Youtube sources from different authors. If it happens on every video, then I'd know it was an issue with Format Factory. In that case, I'd try to use the trial version of Quicktime to see if it happens with Apple's software. If it only happens on the one source file, then I'd know it was an issue with the original Youtube encode. Again I would try Quicktime to see if the same thing happens...
Unfortunately, that would just be to satisfy curiosity as I am not sure how to correct this problem... Let us know if you find out please.
SUPER was always a little different than most software. I'm surprised they would code this behaviour in, though. I wonder what would happen if you re-installed the program using the old version installer (maybe you can find it on the net somewhere on an old version archive site), and do it while your internet cable is unplugged or maybe your date is changed back a few years. Then if you set up a block in your firewall for that software (doesn't need to access the net anyways)... perhaps then it would be oblivious to its own 'obsolescence'... I doubt that it's a time-based behaviour as the message wouldn't make sense unless a new version had been made and they reference new technology in the text. So it obviously has been communicating with their servers to trigger this message. Let us know if you have any luck.
A good advert this for TinyWall and those who prefer to use Windows firewall instead of a third party program. OK, so TinyWall is one of these, but it uses the Windows own filtering platform and doesn't install any additional drivers. The good thing is it blocks everything by default so annoying dial outs on install (or later) are prevented. Even some of the so called "sophisticated" firewalls will let these connections out if the program in question happens to be on their trusted list, and/or you fail to make the appropriate configuration when you set it up.
http://tinywall.pados.hu/
I'm looking for a converter which is also good at subtitles management. I saw Handbrake would be one, but requires .NET framework - which I hate. So, I'll stick to FormatFactory...
P.S.: I've noticed you mentioned FormatFactory requires .NET framework. No, it doesn't!
Solid Top pick. been using it for almost 3 years and no issues since the first release. Also, ive been using Freemake to burn my downloaded movies to dvd with ease. Very easy to use.
Some excellent programs not mentioned here are:
http://staxmedia.sourceforge.net/
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RipBot264
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/HDConvertToX
I tried using Xrecode2 but it says that it is in a demo mode and one has to purchase the program to use it.
So how come you list it as freeware when it's clearly not?
[Other details removed - vendors home site has a poor WOT rating]